Additional trail cameras have been installed in the 2,500-acre natural area and warning signs have been posted to alert park patrons.

State Department of Fish and Game wardens have also been called in to assist.

The county said in a statement Wednesday that children should be accompanied by adults at all times.

Mountain lions are a natural element of the park, which sprawls on former ranch lands along the Santa Ana Mountains.

Ten years ago, a cougar killed a man working on his broken mountain bike in the park and that same day pulled a woman off her bike and mauled her before another cyclist pulled her free.

In 1986, a 5-year-old girl was severely injured in a mountain lion attack in Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park, also in southeastern Orange County. After a 6-year-old boy was mauled there a few months later, that park was off-limits to children for nearly a decade. Access was restored with restrictions.